Daniel Forrester is setting off in September on his journey from Saint Francis Hospice through France, Spain, Gibraltar and Morocco, crossing the Sahara to west Africa to Caroline Sarpong’s family home town of Kumasi in Ghana.
Caroline, a mum of two from Barking, died at the hospice in November from cancer, aged just 45.
Daniel expects the challenge to take up to 12 months, walking around 20 miles a day.
He aims to arrive in Kumasi in September next year on what should have been the first anniversary of their planned wedding at St Peter’s Roman Catholic Church in Dagenham.
“This is my way of honouring Caroline,” he says. “I want to keep her memory alive while raising money for the hospice.”
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The couple — both with their own children — met in 2023 and hit it off straight away.
Daniel, a 47-year-old garden landscape designer from Chelmsford, was struck by “her kindness and zest for life”.
But Caroline’s battle with cancer had already begun in 2021.
“The cancer was never going away,” the father-of-three added. “But she remained positive.”
It had spread to her lymph nodes and lungs. A scan last April also revealed a brain tumour, then she lost most of her sight in August and deteriorated rapidly.
Daniel stayed with her day and night at the hospice as she entered the end of life stages. She passed away on November 11.
“Caroline was so organised and had planned her funeral,” Daniel said. “We spoke about taking her ashes to her family in Kumasi. That’s my pledge.”
Daniel’s journey starts at the hospice, then to Queen’s Hospital in Romford and St Peter’s RC in Dagenham.
He will then head to Barking Riverside for a boat trip to Woolwich that holds so many memories, before heading to Canterbury Cathedral for prayer.
He plans to leave some of her ashes at Folkestone in Kent on a bench overlooking the sea where they spent many hours together, then to Dover for the Channel ferry.
His route through France includes Lourdes in Caroline’s honour, through Spain to Gibraltar by November on the first anniversary of her funeral in Dagenham.
“I know she is with me,” he says. “I now have to live life for the two of us.”
He has already raised more than £2,300 for the hospice.
To donate, visit gofundme.com/f/london-to-ghana-5k-mile-walk.
